Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Grave: | Caudry British Cemetery | ||
| 2. Book: | The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918 | Pg.121 | |
| 3. Memorial: | The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour | 11A GQS | |
| 4. Memorial: | Warwickshire Masonic Memorial | Erdington | |
Awards & Titles: | Military Cross | ||
Family :
Richard William DUGDALE was born on 9 November 1889 in Salisbury, Wiltshire. He was the second son of the Rev. Sidney Dugdale, from Eccles, Lancashire, a ‘Clerk in Holy Orders’. His mother, Edith, was the daughter of W. B. Marshall and was born in Egremont, Cheshire.He was baptised on 11 December 1889, at St. Martin’s church, Salisbury, Wiltshire.
Education & Career :
In 1901, Richard was a pupil at Woodcote House, South Stoke, Woodcote, near Wallingford. The family was now living at Westbury, Wiltshire, where the family lived at All Saint’s Vicarage, Alfred Street.
Richard attended Rugby School. He was in the shooting VIII for three years, captaining the VIII in his last year, and won the Ashburton in 1907. He also ran for the School, again for three years and captaining the VIII in 1908, winning the Crick at a recording breaking time of 1hr 12mins 20seconds. He was a cap two years running.
After leaving Rugby in 1908 he went up to Corpus Christi College, Oxford where he read classics having won a classical exhibition.
He graduated with a BA in 1912, and an MA in 1915.
He trained for ordination to the Clergy at Bishop’s Hostel in Farnham, Surrey and was ordained Deacon at Worcester in December 1913 and a Priest a year later.
He served as Curate at Rugby from 1913 to 1915 during which time he was initiated into the Freemason Lodge of Rectitude in Rugby.
Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: 1st Battalion The Norfolk Regiment |
1st Battalion August 1914 : in Holywood, Belfast. Part of 15th Brigade, 5th Division. Landed at Le Havre August 1914. Moved with Division to Italy in November 1917 but returned to France in April 1918. |
| Action : The Final Advance in Picardy |
17 October - 11 November 1918. The final stage of the British advance saw them cross the Selle and the Sambre rivers as the relentless pressure was kept on the retreating Germans. By the 11th November 1918 the British army had returned to Mons, where it all started for them back in August 1914 when it made its first contact with the Germans, and where the war stopped when the Armistice was declared on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
He was attached in succession to the West Yorks and the Middlesex Regiments, 5th Army Infantry School and then the Royal Flying Corps.
In June 1918 he was posted to the 1st Norfolks.
Citations & Commemorations :
Richard was awarded the Military Cross (3/3/1917) and the Campaign Medals (1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Allied Victory Medal).His Military Cross citation read:
"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He tended the wounded under very heavy fire without the slightest regard for his own personal safety. He located wounded men in the most advanced positions and guided stretcher parties to bring them in."
A friend wrote:
“How Dick would have revelled in the peace celebrations! These crowds in Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square put one in mind of the gorgeous ‘beanos’ we had after beating Rugby or Cheltenham at Rugger or bumping ‘Pembe’ in the togger.
Dick Dugdale was always a great hand at festive assemblies in honour of great events, whether it was somebody’s ‘twenty-firster’ or the end of ‘Schools’. He had such a fund of animal spirits that for pure fun and reckless abandon he could knock spots off the weaker brethren who depended on artificial stimulants to gaiety.
That is the picture of him that first comes to mind – his zest for good-fellowship and fun. He had a big heart and a wonderful capacity for sympathy and intimacy with men of all kinds. With each of his friends he established an intimate and personal relationship based on some bond of common interest or affection peculiar to the two. He had the rare gift of being close and intimate friends with men of many different types, and of evoking in each a richer expression of their higher self.
It was stimulating and inspiring to be with him. His radiant personality dissolved all coldness and reserve, and the most unlikely persons developed a point of view, or at least a sense of humour, in his presence.
Coming from Rugby with a reputation as a great runner and athlete, and with a number of old school friends in the senior years, he was at once picked out as one of the leading spirits of his year and elected to all the College clubs. This position he held through. He took the lead and achieved distinction in every sphere – athletic, social, intellectual, and religious.
His intellectual development during his time at Oxford was remarkable. Being naturally of a sanguine and orthodox bent he was at first inclined to shrink from the more extravagant immaturities of some of his friends. But his natural inclination towards sympathy and understanding rather than dissent soon gave him the measure of this malaise of youth, and many a clever undergraduate learnt to take himself less seriously by finding his views listened to respectfully but not over-seriously by one so sane and large hearted.
Both in his work and his recreations he set himself a high standard. Aristotle’s Ethics became an adventure when tackled in Dick’s company in the spirit of a toughish climb up Skaw Fell. He had the natural man’s love of pleasure and idleness, and though effort and achievement seemed to come spontaneously, he used to confess an inward struggle to keep up to the mark. It was then in the most intimate moments that he would humbly avow his belief in prayer, and one got a glimpse of the strength and simplicity of his inmost springs of action.
Most loveable, most gentle, and most strong, he was the ideal type of Christian priest. The loss to the Church and to those who would have come under his spell is even greater than the loss to his friends and to those who have known him and treasure his memory. His enthusiasm for reform, his humanity, and his strength of purpose assured him a future rich in honour and full of benefit to his country. Cut short on the eve of victory, his life is an inspiration and example, and his death an earnest of the truth by which he lived”
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Lodge of Rectitude No. 502 E.C. | Warwickshire |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
10th November 1914 | 8th December 1914 | 9th March 1915 |
Registers at United Grand Lodge show "Killed in action 23/10/18"
Source :
The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:
- The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
- The (UK) National Archives
- Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
- ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry
Additional Source:
- Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
- Researcher : Bruce Littley